Being a joker has made my sense of humour darker, definitely. I still get nervous before the play begins. In forum theatre, the joker acts as the bridge between the audience and the stage. My role is to encourage audiences to come up with ideas and join the actors on stage to find solutions to the problems associated with homelessness. I make it safe to try out new things.

When I went to my first workshop, I thought it would be a pile of poncey actors. I wanted to disrupt it, but instead I was drawn in. Bereavement caused my homelessness. Twelve years ago I lost my flat and found myself in three different hostels. I started attending drama workshops.

It's a slow-burn kind of happiness we work towards. It's not having to think about what you're buying when you go into a shop. You can sit in the pub and buy friends a drink. It's the feeling of being reconnected. There's pride and confidence that comes with it. For most homeless people, romance has been out of the question for so long. You can't do much with £47 a week to live on. For me, it became an option again.

People love the discipline of doing plays. Timekeeping improves, appearance improves, confidence improves. Discipline gives you more control, especially in lives that are so chaotic. Six to eight months down the line, a person is asked, "What do you do?" They're able to say, "I'm an actor."